I am still not 100% yet. I can't believe I have been sick for almost 2 weeks. I am still congested and it makes it hard to sleep at night. This flu has really kicked my butt! Thank God I got a flu shot back in late October, or I would have probably been a lot sicker. I go back to work tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it. On another note, I finally took down all the Christmas decorations - it took me several days to accomplish that. I am now anxiously awaiting my favorite holiday of the year: Valentine's Day. When I was a kid, because I attended a Catholic school, we always got Valentine's Day off because it was a Catholic holiday. I love the old Victorian designs, the hearts, and angels that can be found in Valentine's Day art. I LOVE Valentine's Day so much, that I got married on that day. Something must be going right since we will be celebrating our 27th anniversary next month! Here is some of my Valentine's Day stash. In the background is a box of hearts. My best friend, Sergio, gave me this gift for Christmas. He knows I collect hearts - I have since I was a little girl. I took the Christmas decorations off my small iron tree. Now, the tree is covered in hearts and birds to welcome Valentine's Day. The milagros, stickers, and collage sheet will be used for cards and a swap that I am involved in. Now, I need to get better to get moving on all the things I wanted to get done while I was on my 3 week "vacation"! After being sick for the last 2 weeks, I promised myself I would slow down; my "gift" to me. But I am itching to make some new art.

In a blink of an eye, the holidays are gone! This year's Christmas was especially magical for me. I never strive for Christmas to be perfect. Perfect is almost impossible and very stressful. But, we had a very nice and special Christmas and the most important part of it was that we got to spend time together as a family. Here are some shots of the big kids and children. Today, I am going to spend part of the day taking the tree down and putting all the decorations away. Happy 2008!

I'm getting ready to do the countdown to the new year like the rest of the world is doing about now! I am STILL sick! I cannot believe I have had this thing for a week now. I feel the crappiest at the end of the day, right before I get ready to go to bed. I have been having a real hard time breathing when I am lying down because I am so congested. So, I try to steal some time to nap and sleep in one of our 2 big chairs in our t.v. room. Today, however, I was not going to let this stupid bug get me down or even, put me down. I went to a late breakfast with 3 of my closest friends: Maria, Peter, and Sergio. We have been close friends for many years. We had a ball catching up! Well, since I see all 3 of my friends pretty regularly, I didn't really catch up. The catch up is for the 3 of them. Over the years, the 4 of us have traveled together to San Francisco and Maui. We are talking about going on a trip this summer. 3 of the 4 of us want to hit the Middle East - we have been talking about going to Jordan or Lebanon for awhile now, so maybe 2008 will be the year it finally happens. Well, since I have been sick a good chunk of my vacation, I haven't done very much of anything, particularly art. These 2 pages are my most recent work - they are about 2 weeks old. It is funny because I made 2 lists on one of the pages of what I wanted to accomplish during my 3-week break. I got minimal done, but that is alright with me. Happy New Year to all!

Today is day 4 of being sick. I had a really hard time sleeping last night. I am so congested! I was supposed to go to a party and a dinner, but never made it to either. I have pretty much spent most of my time either in bed or sitting in a chair. I hate being sick! But I guess my body is telling me to slow down. And because I don't feel like doing too much of anything, I have been updating my blog and posting more often. There was a period of over a month that I just didn't have any spare time to devote to my blog! Unbelievable! And I have been reading like crazy! I have also been going through my collage ephemera and sorting out some of the images I have been collecting for awhile. Below, are two of my favorite pieces that I created about a year apart. The little girl in the red dress is a few months old. The "Forgive the Debt" is about 2 years old. They seem to go together. I feel so strongly about the United States and other countries forgiving the debt for those countries that have no chance of ever getting out of "debt". I wholeheartedly support the "Red Campaign", that Bono and Bobby Shriver have been instrumental in creating and bringing to the forefront of issues that affect all of us. It is our obligation to help those who are need of help.

Yesterday was my friend, Jack's birthday. I cannot believe he is 50-years-old! Wow. It seems like just yesterday, we were hanging out in the cafeteria, @ Cal State L.A. It is unbelievable how fast time just keeps moving. Anyway, I created this painting in honor of him. It is made up of ephemera I collected, including his name tag. This is my gift to him. Feliz cumpleanos, Joaquin!

U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name (Full Version - Live)

I am sure this is sacrireligious, but I am not a BIG Beatles fan. I am all about the Stones! However, I am a HUGE John Lennon fan. Because of these trying times, I think "Give Peace a Chance" is as appropriate as when it first came out. "Don't Let Me Down" is my all-time favorite Beatle song. I had never seen this video before and when I finally did watch it, it reminded me of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" video. I love the rooftop performances! U2's video makes L.A.P.D. almost look comical regarding how they handle 'crowd control'. I think L.A. can handle an impromptu rooftop concert!

Beatles - Don't let me down